Host genetics and the rumen microbiome jointly associate with methane emissions in dairy cows

Cattle and other ruminants produce large quantities of methane (~110 million metric tonnes per annum), which is a potent greenhouse gas affecting global climate change. Methane (CH4) is a natural by-product of gastro-enteric microbial fermentation of feedstuffs in the rumen and contributes to 6% of...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PLoS genetics 2018-10, Vol.14 (10), p.e1007580
Main Authors: Difford, Gareth Frank, Plichta, Damian Rafal, Løvendahl, Peter, Lassen, Jan, Noel, Samantha Joan, Højberg, Ole, Wright, André-Denis G, Zhu, Zhigang, Kristensen, Lise, Nielsen, Henrik Bjørn, Guldbrandtsen, Bernt, Sahana, Goutam
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal Breeding and Genetics
Animal Breeding and Genomics
Animal sciences
Animals
Archaea - classification
Archaea - genetics
Bacteria
Bacteria - classification
Bacteria - genetics
Bioinformatics
Biology and Life Sciences
Carbon dioxide
Cattle
Cattle - classification
Cattle - genetics
Cattle - microbiology
Climate change
Computer and Information Sciences
Earth Sciences
Ecology and Environmental Sciences
Emissions
Female
Fermentation
Fokkerij en Genetica
Fokkerij en Genomica
Funding
Genome - genetics
Genomes
Genomics
Genotype
Genotypes
Greenhouse gases
Heritability
Host Microbial Interactions - genetics
Influence
Internet
Leerstoelgroep Fokkerij en genetica
Livestock
Methane
Methane - metabolism
Microbiomes
Microbiota - genetics
Microbiota - physiology
Milk
Milk - chemistry
Molecular biology
Physical Sciences
Quantitative genetics
Rumen
Rumen - metabolism
Rumen - microbiology
Zoology
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Summary:Cattle and other ruminants produce large quantities of methane (~110 million metric tonnes per annum), which is a potent greenhouse gas affecting global climate change. Methane (CH4) is a natural by-product of gastro-enteric microbial fermentation of feedstuffs in the rumen and contributes to 6% of total CH4 emissions from anthropogenic-related sources. The extent to which the host genome and rumen microbiome influence CH4 emission is not yet well known. This study confirms individual variation in CH4 production was influenced by individual host (cow) genotype, as well as the host's rumen microbiome composition. Abundance of a small proportion of bacteria and archaea taxa were influenced to a limited extent by the host's genotype and certain taxa were associated with CH4 emissions. However, the cumulative effect of all bacteria and archaea on CH4 production was 13%, the host genetics (heritability) was 21% and the two are largely independent. This study demonstrates variation in CH4 emission is likely not modulated through cow genetic effects on the rumen microbiome. Therefore, the rumen microbiome and cow genome could be targeted independently, by breeding low methane-emitting cows and in parallel, by investigating possible strategies that target changes in the rumen microbiome to reduce CH4 emissions in the cattle industry.
ISSN:1553-7404
1553-7390
1553-7404
DOI:10.1371/journal.pgen.1007580